The recent discovery of inherited defects of mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation in man has prompted a resurgence of interest, at both clinical and basic biochemical levels, of the pathways of mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation. These disorders have become elucidated in laboratories all over the world, and particularly as the molecular aspects of the defects have been clarified, there has been a stimulus to characterize the normal processes of fatty acid oxidation in these organelles. The organizers of this Symposium created the First International Symposium on Clinical, Biochemical, and Molecular Aspects of fatty Acid Oxidation in 1988, where more than 170 scientists from 18 countries participated. This was the first that the topic had been comprehensively covered, and it resulted in the publication of a book which gathered in one place all of the current and historical information available on this subject. The purpose of this 2 1/2-day International Symposium is to bring together basic and clinical scientists, whose research efforts bear directly on fatty acid metabolism in man, in order to exchange information and to review the remarkable progress which has occurred in this field in the time since the First Symposium. The topics which we have chosen to cover by inviting 12 key speakers from around the world are: cellular processes, such as mitochondrial and peroxisomal biogenesis and the role of fatty acid binding protein in cellular fatty acid metabolism; molecular aspects of the enzymes of mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation; clinical and analytical approaches to the human fatty acid oxidation disorders. An important feature of this Symposium will be the opportunity for extensive discussion and for oral presentation of up-to-the-minute results by many more scientists than was possible in the First Symposium. We wish to provide funding to encourage the participation of young scientists, who might otherwise have difficulty in attending this Symposium. This is a very fast-moving field, with new molecular and analytical techniques contributing to rapid advances. There are significant new initiatives in terms of the clinical aspects of the disorders of fatty acid oxidation which may lead to more rapid and reliable methods for diagnosis and for population screening.